To be more specific, the PR profession is "on the verge of a golden age" in terms of its role in the broader marketing communications mix.

Now was a wonderful time to be graduating from a PR and communications course, I told the audience.

Students coming into the workforce were in an enviable position in that they didn't have many old habits that required change.

Old Habits

The PR profession in many respects is very conservative and hates change (this is reflective of the business community generally). Old habits die hard, and change is scary.

And yet the world is undergoing tremendous upheaval.

Technology and the ever-evolving media landscape is changing forever the way in which we communicate with each other and connect with companies and organisations.

Needless to say, such change is having a profound effect on business, government, media and the nonprofit sector.

Era of Hyper-Connectivity

Of course this in turn presents the public relations industry with a tremendous opportunity to make sense of it all and help companies to better engage the public with their brand story.

Ditto for young practitioners: if you're willing to embrace this new era of hyper-connectivity and all that comes with it, you're going to be well-placed to help lead the profession into its golden age.

I hadn't seen this article - yes, same language but very different assertions!

The fact (the article's author) Schuyler Brown uses the words "spin and PR" together demonstrates a narrow (and media-driven) view of PR and therefore a lack of understanding of the discipline. But then, it's probably understandable given she comes from 'Big Advertising', a industry that collectively has never really grasped the intricacies and nuances of public relations and communications.

Interesting Brown asserts that advertising "is really pretty transparent in its intentions" and that PR "really is not". The mantra of professional PR firms, departments and educational institutions the world over is around ensuring communications are authentic and transparent.

I can't say I've ever heard advertising people talk that way - but then, when you interrupt people's lives by carpet-bombing them with unwanted sales messages, I guess it's pretty obvious who's behind the spruiking (after all, the marketing manager generally wants their logo bigger than it ever needs to be!).

However, Brown is right when she says "advertising is failing" and "PR is right for the times".